This is old blowers and I'm going to have to tell you a story that's a thing that's going on down here. And it's got the whole community into an uproar and I don't know how it's going to come out. I've got to tell you. I'm worried about it and everybody else down here is too.
And we don't know what to do about it. And I'm going to have to start at the first and it's going to take me two or three podcasts here to tell you the story because it's happened over a period of time. And one time, see, I didn't know there was no trouble. But it kind of, well, what happened?
It kind of developed over a period of time. But let me at least get started and try to make some sense out of this for you. But back under about, oh, six months ago, there was this preacher that come to town and his name was Brother G. G.
Maynard or that's what they called him. And I didn't know him. I never had met him. And he come down here and I was one of the first ones that seen him.
And he seemed like he was all right to me. He was a preacher, but he didn't seem like I was no harm in him. And he told me that he was going to have a revival and asked me that I want to come. And I said, well, no, Brother Maynard, I said, I ain't got nothing to get in church.
But I said, it's just not something that I do. But I said, you know, if you want to have a revival down here, there are a lot of people that do believe in it and do, you know, practice some kind of religion. And you probably could get a real good turnout for your revival. So he got on the radio and announced it.
You know, there's a little old bitty station down here in Mark Tree that, but it gets out down here. And he announced his revival and his church is called the Prayer House Tabernacle is what he is. I've never heard of that, but that's the name of his church, Prayer House Tabernacle. So anyway, he come down here and had him a revival.
And they claim that he had a big turnout and they said that he saved about 70 people. Now, I don't know what that means, you know, being saved. What I mean is he said that he saved that many people. Well, I saved them from what?
I don't know what that means. But anyway, that's what they said. And so the next thing he done after he had his revival, he said he wanted to keep the momentum going. So he come down here and he bought this boarding house down here that, you know, I told you about in another podcast.
And, you know, I told you about this other religious group that come down here and stayed at that boarding house for a while until they run them off. But they didn't buy it. See, they was just, they were just claim jumpers more or less. They'd be understanding what I'm saying.
But what he done, he come down here and bought this house. Well, see, after this other religion group moved out, you know, after they run them out of the country, well, I went down there and checked on that house. I wanted to see who owned it. Well, didn't nobody own it.
See, it used to belong to the railroad. That's why it was built for the railroad, you know, to stay in them workers to stay in when they was working on the railroad. But when the railroad shut down, well, of course, the boarding house, you know, it went back to the county. In other words, they didn't nobody pay no taxes on it.
So what brother Maynard done was he come down here and bought it for the back taxes. I think it was about $200 that was owed on it. And he paid them back taxes and bought that boarding house. Well, now see, that's where we made a mistake.
I know that house was down there, but see, I didn't need it. It ain't nothing but just a big old house. And there ain't no land that goes with it. It's just that house is all he is and a little, you know, little yard out there.
And I didn't need it. You know, I don't have no need for no house like that. And I talked to some other people down here and I said, do you think that some of us, ought to go in and buy this house just to keep somebody else from moving into it? Because I said, you know, somebody else might come down here and decide to take up residence there.
And they said, no, they said it hadn't ever happened before, except about one time. And they didn't see no need in it. And it would just cost us money. And what was we going to do with it after we got it?
Well, we just left it alone and didn't pay no attention to it. Well, first thing I knowed old brother G.G. Maynard had bought it. And what he was going to do is he was going to set him up a church.
And he called it the prayer house tabernacle, just like the one he had. And see, well, I'll tell you that in a minute, but he did. He set up a prayer house tabernacle down there. And he got him a cross out in front of it, just made out of, you know, just made out of a tree with a board laying across it, you know, that made up a, it was like a tea.
It was what he was. And it was the cross. But then they put a neon light up there on the roof. And he started this church down there.
Well, I didn't pay no attention to it because, you know, if he wanted to start a church down there, you know, it didn't affect me none, or at least I didn't think it did. But I tell you what he did. I tell you what happened down here. And this is the reason that we've got trouble.
And I'm going to tell you some more about it in the next podcast or two. I can't tell it all at one time. But he got the people down here stirred up and he got the people to dress in different, you know, and he believed that the girls ought to wear them long dresses, you know, that nive out touch the ground. And he thought that, you know, people shouldn't have an art to cut their hair.
If they was women, that he was a woman who had not cut their hair or let it grow down their backs. And then he had all kinds of other things that I'll have to tell you about. I can't tell you all at one time. But anyway, he'd come down here and he kind of changed the way people acted down here and how they dressed.
And you might think, well, you know, why does that make you any difference? Well, that part of it don't. But then he got people stirred up and he got them acting different too. And so I'm going to tell you the rest of it or in the next two or three podcasts, but he has caused all kinds of trouble down here.
Now he might be a good man. I don't know when he might really believe what he's doing. I'm not saying he does and I'm not saying he don't. I ain't never talked to him and he don't have nothing to do with me because see, I don't go to his church and I don't go to his revival.
So he said that I was a hethriness. What do you say? He told everybody that down here that I was a hethrin and he said that anybody that didn't go to his church was a hethrin. And some of them argued with me.
You know, I didn't, I didn't pay no attention to him, but old flossy butts. She goes to this other church down here and she cornered him one time and she said, brother Maynard said, we've got a church down here and we've been worshiping for a long time. And she said, you know, we don't believe like you do, but said we've got our own religion. And he said, anybody that don't believe like I do is going right straight to hell.
That's what he said. So anyway, I'm going to have to quit on this podcast, but I'm going to tell you some of the changes that he's caused to happen down here and he caused us all kinds of trouble. And he's got the, well, he's got these people doing these things and he's got some money behind him from somewhere. I don't know who's putting up the money, but he's had two or three or four court cases down here where he's challenged, you know, the authorities down here and what they're doing and what they're saying.
And I'll tell you more about that in the next podcast, but it is a mess. I'm going to tell you and I'll let you know more about it in the next podcast.